VOA标准英语2009年-Struggle in Swat Valley Highlights Pakistan's C

This week top Pakistani, Afghan and U.S. officials are meeting in Washington to discuss how to counter al-Qaida and Taliban fighters, who now threaten both U.S.-backed governments in the region. In Pakistan, officials are moving forward with a controversial peace agreement with one group of Taliban militants² who effectively took over Swat valley, a well-known tourist retreat less than 160 kilometers from the capital.
　
Pakistani army troops patrol on a road in Mingora, the main town of the Swat Valley, 24 Feb 2009

This is the Pakistani government's second attempt at forging a truce³ with the militants in Swat valley, and residents say the stakes now are higher than ever before.

Following an on-again, off-again, 18-month war against the Swat Taliban, locals now blame both the military and the Taliban for killing⁴ hundreds, displacing thousands and destroying the valley's economy.

One resident says many people in Swat cite the destruction caused by both sides as evidence they are secretly working together.

"There is this perception that the Taliban and forces - they are one people," said the resident.

Another man, who also declined to be identified because of fear of reprisals⁵, said at times it felt as if locals were being attacked first by the Taliban and then by the military.

"Ninety-five percent of people were thinking like that," he said. "They were thinking the army is the A team and the Taliban is the B team."

Locals also cite the army's inability to kill or capture any Swat Taliban leaders, despite the government's firm control in the area just a few years ago as evidence the military has, at best, waged a half-hearted campaign.

Army spokesman General Athar Abbas rejects allegations the Taliban and army are working together, saying nearly 200 Pakistani troops have been killed in Swat. But he admits the military has failed to hit Swat Taliban leader Maulana Fazlulla, or any of his top commanders.

"You're right, maybe, the top leadership has not been engaged or targeted in Swat. Remember the militant¹ leadership is the center of gravity of militancy," said Abbas. "And it doesn't expose itself - it always moves around with a shroud⁷ around it. And therefore it is difficult directly to hit that."

While militant leaders in Swat are rarely seen, they are frequently heard. Illegal Taliban radio stations broadcast daily programming from some 30 towers across the valley as well as mobile transmitters on vehicles. The army has tried to jam the signals, but says it has just three devices that only cover a limited area.

The broadcasts have a large audience - many residents say they must tune⁸ in, to hear what the Taliban is planning. Every night, a spokesman reads from the Koran, announces policies and issues threats.

A Swat Taliban spokesman Shah Duran on a recent broadcast calls for the death of journalists accused of misreporting the Swat conflict. He says reporters should be extra careful, because the Taliban is powerful.

In recounting the army's failure to pacify⁹ Swat, spokesman Abbas cites a crucial period last spring - when the military offensive was halted while the provincial¹⁰ government tried to negotiate a truce. The general says the Taliban took advantage of the lull⁶ in fighting to behead and beat locals who had opposed them. He says when the army returned, local support had vanished.

"We had lost our connections, our informers, our support from the public. You had to separate the militants from the civilians¹¹ - they had mixed into the population and it became difficult for the military without having informers to separate them. And that started resulting in collateral¹² damage of death, destruction and displacement," added Abbas.

Such counter-insurgency problems are well-known to U.S. commanders who have struggled with similar scenarios¹³ in Iraq and Afghanistan. A group of American military advisers¹⁴ is now in Pakistan, helping¹⁵ to train several hundred Pakistani forces in counter-insurgency tactics.
　
Richard Holbrooke (file)

U.S. special representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke has suggested taking some of the estimated 300,000 Pakistan troops posted along the Indian border and transferring them to boost troops fighting Taliban militants.

But a former governor of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, Khalid Aziz, says that will be difficult, because Pakistan's military is still focused on its long-time rival India.

"The threat perception from the Pakistan point of view is imminent¹⁶ threat from the Indian direction. And that's why the deployment¹⁷ of the forces takes this configuration¹⁸ - the threat seems to be more from the east than from the west," said Aziz.

Despite lingering tensions with India over November's Mumbai terrorist attacks, President Asif Zardari said earlier this month that Pakistan is now fighting for its survival against a Taliban that is trying to take over.

But the government's most recent strategy to deal with the militants in Swat by halting military operations and trying to negotiate a peace deal has drawn¹⁹ concern from U.S. officials.

The deals call for fighters to lay down their arms in exchange for establishing courts that proceed in accordance with Islamic law.

Critics say officials are further undermining the government's authority and ceding²⁰ more territory to the Taliban. But locals, such as this man who lives near Swat's main city Mingora, worry the agreement's failure, and a resumption of hostilities²¹, will only lead to more suffering.

"It it fails - I am worried about it. I think the situation will be very, very, very bad and the Swat people will face more difficulties," he said.

Some Pakistani analysts²² agree. Khalid Aziz says he is hopeful about the agreement, but he says that regardless of the outcome, Pakistan's government must improve its ability to clear and control Taliban-held territory, without losing public support.

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

3 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 reprisals   

n.报复（行为）( reprisal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They did not want to give evidence for fear of reprisals. 他们因为害怕报复而不想作证。
• They took bloody reprisals against the leaders. 他们对领导进行了血腥的报复。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 lull   

v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇

参考例句：

• The drug put Simpson in a lull for thirty minutes.药物使辛普森安静了30分钟。
• Ground fighting flared up again after a two-week lull.经过两个星期的平静之后，地面战又突然爆发了。

7 shroud   

n.裹尸布，寿衣；罩，幕；vt.覆盖，隐藏

参考例句：

• His past was enveloped in a shroud of mystery.他的过去被裹上一层神秘色彩。
• How can I do under shroud of a dark sky?在黑暗的天空的笼罩下，我该怎么做呢？

8 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

9 pacify   

vt.使(某人)平静(或息怒)；抚慰

参考例句：

• He tried to pacify the protesters with promises of reform.他试图以改革的承诺安抚抗议者。
• He tried to pacify his creditors by repaying part of the money.他为安抚债权人偿还了部分借款。

10 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

11 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

12 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

13 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

14 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

15 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

16 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

17 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

18 configuration   

n.结构，布局，形态，(计算机)配置

参考例句：

• Geographers study the configuration of the mountains.地理学家研究山脉的地形轮廓。
• Prices range from $119 to $199,depending on the particular configuration.价格因具体配置而异，从119美元至199美元不等。

19 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

20 ceding   

v.让给，割让，放弃( cede的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was ceding line but more slowly all the time. 他正在放出钓索，然而越来越慢了。 来自英汉文学 - 老人与海
• Settlement would require ceding some Egyptian territory. 解决办法将要求埃及让出一些领土。 来自辞典例句

21 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

22 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。